Jaws Ventures

What Jaws Ventures does

Jaws Ventures (legal entity: JAWS Estates Capital, LLC) is a private family office and venture investment firm headquartered at 2340 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida. Founded in 2014, the firm operates as the family office of Barry S. Sternlicht, who separately founded Starwood Capital in 1991, a private alternative investment firm with over $120 billion in assets under management focused on global real estate, hospitality, oil and gas, and energy infrastructure. Jaws deploys permanent capital as a long-duration, alpha-driven investor across all sectors, stages, and geographies — spanning both public and private companies — with particular focus on consumer, technology, PropTech, and healthcare companies.

The firm maintains a concentrated portfolio of more than 80 companies including SpaceX, Palantir (NYSE:PLTR), Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), Oscar (NYSE:OSCR), Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG), SmartRent (NYSE:SMRT), Anduril, Bilt, VTS, Entrata, and Dominos China (HK:1405), among others. It also operates a SPAC franchise including Jaws Mustang (NYSE: JWSM), Jaws Hurricane (NASDAQ: HCNE), and the previously completed Jaws Spitfire, which merged with Velo3D (NYSE:VLD). Jaws does not charge traditional fund management fees; instead, it deploys Sternlicht family capital directly into portfolio positions and earns returns through capital appreciation and public-market holdings.

The firm operates with a deliberately small team of 1-10 senior professionals, currently comprising Managing Director Matthew Walters (joined 2015), Principal Sam Rohr (joined 2020), and Vice President Sam Berger (joined 2021), supported by Barry S. Sternlicht's network and the broader Starwood Capital ecosystem. Investment sourcing is relationship-based and proprietary rather than driven by traditional outbound channels, marketing, or external fundraising. The firm does not publicly disclose revenue, fees, or fund performance metrics, consistent with its private family-office structure.

Name

Jaws Ventures

Legal name

JAWS Estates Capital, LLC

Website

https://jawsvc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Jaws Ventures is the Miami Beach-based family office of Barry S. Sternlicht (Starwood Capital founder), deploying permanent capital across consumer, technology, PropTech, and healthcare companies and operating a SPAC franchise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital and Growth Equity

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Strategic Real Assets & Infrastructure Venture Investing (FSANAHAN)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Growth capital investment
• Family office investment
• Consumer technology investing
• PropTech venture investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Miami

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D

Core offering

Jaws Ventures operates as the family office of Barry S. Sternlicht, deploying long-duration permanent capital into private and public companies across consumer, technology, PropTech, and healthcare sectors at all stages. The firm also operates a SPAC franchise including Jaws Mustang (NYSE: JWSM) and Jaws Hurricane (NASDAQ: HCNE).

Product overview

Jaws Ventures is a family office investment firm (JAWS Estates Capital, LLC) that operates as a single unified investment platform. It deploys permanent capital across all sectors, stages, and industries with a focus on consumer, technology, PropTech, and healthcare companies. The firm also manages a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) franchise including Jaws Mustang (NYSE: JWSM), Jaws Hurricane (NASDAQ: HCNE), and previously Jaws Spitfire.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Growth and Venture Capital Investment Services

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Iconiq Capital: Family office and private investment firm with similar structure to Jaws, managing capital for tech founders and executives. Iconiq invests across stages in consumer, technology, and growth-stage companies, comparable to Jaws' permanent-capital, multi-stage approach.
• Emerson Collective: Family office of Laurene Powell Jobs that invests across sectors including consumer, technology, healthcare, and media with a long-duration, mission-driven approach. Highly comparable to Jaws as a multi-sector family office deploying permanent patient capital.
• Cohen Private Ventures: Steve Cohen's family investment vehicle that deploys personal capital across consumer, technology, and other sectors with a long-duration focus. Mirrors Jaws' structure as an ultra-high-net-worth family office operating across public and private markets.
• 8VC: Joe Lonsdale's investment firm focused on technology, consumer, and defense sectors with portfolio companies including Anduril. Shares Jaws' thesis-driven approach to consumer tech, defense tech, and PropTech (Bilt) with permanent-capital-style flexibility.
• Founders Fund: Peter Thiel-led venture firm investing in transformative technology across stages. Shares Jaws' appetite for ambitious, frontier technology companies (SpaceX, Palantir) and contrarian long-duration conviction in technology bets.
• Bond Capital: Mary Meeker's growth-stage investment firm focused on consumer internet and technology companies. Comparable to Jaws' consumer-and-tech-focused growth investing approach with established founder relationships and thesis-driven capital deployment.
• Social Capital: Chamath Palihapitiya's investment firm and prominent SPAC sponsor. Closest comparable to Jaws' combination of venture investing with active SPAC franchise, with both firms operating across public and private technology markets.
• Maverick Capital: Long-duration, conviction-driven investment firm led by Lee Ainslie that invests across public and private markets. Shares Jaws' permanent-capital, alpha-driven philosophy and willingness to hold concentrated positions through full cycles.
• Forerunner Ventures: Kirsten Green-led venture firm focused on consumer brands and commerce. Highly comparable to Jaws' consumer-vertical investments (Away, Bonobos, Third Love, Sweetgreen, Blue Stone Lane, Blank Street, Jolie, Parachute Home).

Broad incumbents

• General Catalyst: Large multi-stage venture firm with consumer, technology, healthcare, and PropTech exposure. Broader incumbent with institutional fund structure compared to Jaws' lean family office, but overlaps in stage- and sector-agnostic investing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments113 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Jaws Ventures